How do I enforce a minimum wage claim in Oklahoma?

Posted By
Mazaheri Law Firm

Both Oklahoma and federal law requires that employers pay employees at
least the minimum wage. Employers are generally defined as being those
businesses or people who employ more than 10 workers in one place or who
do more than $100,000 in annual business. There are some exceptions that
apply to specific individuals, such as farmers and ranchers, part-time
workers, people who are under a certain age and domestic servants in private
homes, but minimum wage laws apply to most hourly employees. But what
happens if you believe you are owed wages by a current or former employer
because you have been paid less than the $7.25 an hour that Oklahoma law requires?

One way to enforce employees' rights is through an administrative process.
Under Oklahoma law, the Commissioner of Labor has the duty to investigate
and enforce complaints made pursuant to the minimum wage law. If such
an investigation finds that an employer has paid an employee insufficient
wages, the commissioner's office will mail the findings to the parties
and the employer will be liable for the amount of the deficiency, plus
a penalty payment of 10% of the deficient amount. If the employee accepts
this finding and recommendation, he or she can no longer pursue other
avenues of redress related to that wage claim with that employer.

The other way to enforce a minimum wage claim is through the judicial system.
By filing a complaint in court, the employee can seek compensation from
the employer if he or she has been paid less than what is legally required.
If a court finds in favor of the employee, the judge can find the employer
liable for twice the amount of wages that should have been paid, with
any amounts already paid subtracted from the total. Furthermore, the employer
may be liable for court costs and attorney's fees paid by the employee
bringing the suit. It is important to recognize that employees may not
negotiate away their rights to minimum wage; an agreement between the
parties to have the employee work for less than the minimum wage amount
is not a defense that can be used by an employer.

As this post illustrates, there may be a couple of ways to recoup lost
wages if you think you have been paid an incorrect amount of wages. If
so, you may want to consider consulting an experienced Oklahoma employment
law attorney.